CLIMB TO THE LIGHT...
“Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.
Victor Hugo, les miserables.
I'm currently immersed into writing my new screenplay, "THE CAT", those who follow me on twitter and facebook, probably know that I injured my back a few days ago...So, I need to rest. It's extremely difficult for me to type on my laptop, but I do, as inspiration knocked on my door this week, and does not intend to get away before I finish this script. I'm on page 70 and the screenplay revolves around two cat burglars, which is a subject I've always been interested in. I'm not into ordinary people, or ordinary stories...My characters need to do something extraordinary to get me interested in them and to get me to develop their story.
Next week, I'll be back at pitching my work, it became a challenge to sell a new idea in this time of financial crisis, and in this atmosphere of remakes, reboots, 3D remakes, bad 3 horror movies, you name it! Selling dreams is not trendy nowadays, as Hollywood seems to prefer brainless or depressing stories, (see the Oscar nominations list for the gloomy stories)
Seriously, who would want to sit in the screening room of a movie theater to watch two aging people slowly dying in an apartment? That's not how I envision cinema, and that's not what I'm interested in writing. I'm interested in writing the kind of films I like to see, you know what are my favorite films and they all have common points: Courage, heroism, they blow you away and they have a beautiful ending...
THE ENDING IS SO IMPORTANT! Don't forget that! People leave the theater with the ending in mind. Sometimes I see movies where the ending has not been written at all; as if the screenwriter had left his office before typing it...It is extremely common into French movies. Writing a beautiful ending is a primordial element of the story, that is what will make the difference between a masterpiece, and an easily forgettable film, and to be frank, we all want a climax! LOL.
Seriously, starting a film without properly ending it is pointless...When I write a script, even the very first days of starting writing it, I already know how it's going to end, actually, sometimes, I have the ending before the first scenes and the middle of the story.
The ending can be your starting point! The way a character will end can be a way to define how they began, what they did to end up there...Etc...
Of course, I already know who the leading character will be...A criminal, a hero...But I need to know why he has become who is, and how...The ending can be the answer. For instance, if the hero is killed at the end of the script, it can be as an act of redemption, or just because the audience will feel that he deserved it, because all he did in the previous scenes led him there, and my job will be to discover why he ended there during the previous pages, as I will write my beginning, middle and get to the end.
Last, but not least, I have started this article with a beautiful quote by Victor Hugo...As I'm convinced A WRITER MUST READ. Quotes by acclaimed writers are so inspirational, they can help you create a totally different universe and show you the light at the end of your tunnel of inspiration...So CLIMB TO THE LIGHT!
The good news is that with the internet today, writers can easily find all these quotes online and read the books of authors like Victor Hugo for free!
So do not hesitate! Focus on reading! The inspiration does can’t be found in stupid TV SHOWS or in TV Movies (how can they call these things movies seriously?) but in the writing, in the way other writers have been using words before you, to describe, to create, to give birth to a new universe from a blank page.
Happy new year!
Jordan.
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.
Victor Hugo, les miserables.
I'm currently immersed into writing my new screenplay, "THE CAT", those who follow me on twitter and facebook, probably know that I injured my back a few days ago...So, I need to rest. It's extremely difficult for me to type on my laptop, but I do, as inspiration knocked on my door this week, and does not intend to get away before I finish this script. I'm on page 70 and the screenplay revolves around two cat burglars, which is a subject I've always been interested in. I'm not into ordinary people, or ordinary stories...My characters need to do something extraordinary to get me interested in them and to get me to develop their story.
Next week, I'll be back at pitching my work, it became a challenge to sell a new idea in this time of financial crisis, and in this atmosphere of remakes, reboots, 3D remakes, bad 3 horror movies, you name it! Selling dreams is not trendy nowadays, as Hollywood seems to prefer brainless or depressing stories, (see the Oscar nominations list for the gloomy stories)
Seriously, who would want to sit in the screening room of a movie theater to watch two aging people slowly dying in an apartment? That's not how I envision cinema, and that's not what I'm interested in writing. I'm interested in writing the kind of films I like to see, you know what are my favorite films and they all have common points: Courage, heroism, they blow you away and they have a beautiful ending...
THE ENDING IS SO IMPORTANT! Don't forget that! People leave the theater with the ending in mind. Sometimes I see movies where the ending has not been written at all; as if the screenwriter had left his office before typing it...It is extremely common into French movies. Writing a beautiful ending is a primordial element of the story, that is what will make the difference between a masterpiece, and an easily forgettable film, and to be frank, we all want a climax! LOL.
Seriously, starting a film without properly ending it is pointless...When I write a script, even the very first days of starting writing it, I already know how it's going to end, actually, sometimes, I have the ending before the first scenes and the middle of the story.
The ending can be your starting point! The way a character will end can be a way to define how they began, what they did to end up there...Etc...
Of course, I already know who the leading character will be...A criminal, a hero...But I need to know why he has become who is, and how...The ending can be the answer. For instance, if the hero is killed at the end of the script, it can be as an act of redemption, or just because the audience will feel that he deserved it, because all he did in the previous scenes led him there, and my job will be to discover why he ended there during the previous pages, as I will write my beginning, middle and get to the end.
Last, but not least, I have started this article with a beautiful quote by Victor Hugo...As I'm convinced A WRITER MUST READ. Quotes by acclaimed writers are so inspirational, they can help you create a totally different universe and show you the light at the end of your tunnel of inspiration...So CLIMB TO THE LIGHT!
The good news is that with the internet today, writers can easily find all these quotes online and read the books of authors like Victor Hugo for free!
So do not hesitate! Focus on reading! The inspiration does can’t be found in stupid TV SHOWS or in TV Movies (how can they call these things movies seriously?) but in the writing, in the way other writers have been using words before you, to describe, to create, to give birth to a new universe from a blank page.
Happy new year!
Jordan.
Comments